The difference is that, in English, “cyan”, like your other listed examples except the ones that I think are actually green or purple, is a kind of blue (like sepia is a kind of brown, canary is a kind of yellow, etc.), while “pink” is not a kind of red. In Russian, golubuy is not a kind of siniy, and vice versa.
I think color words in languages are really interesting. Some languages have only three very basic ones that aren’t kinds of anything else, and these tend to be translated as “black”, “white”, and “red”—dark, light, and bright colors. (They translate the bright color as “red” because if you have lots of objects in the room and ask someone who speaks this language to point to the best example of that color, they’ll pick something bright red.) These three words are privileged in English too: they’re the only ones we modify with -en to indicate that something is becoming more that color (redden, blacken, whiten—never bluen or greenen).
The difference is that, in English, “cyan”, like your other listed examples except the ones that I think are actually green or purple, is a kind of blue
“Cyan” is one of the least “blue” on the list and I almost omitted it. These days I’d even tend to consider some) of those others “shades of cyan”. Too much study of web design tends to corrupt perception the same way native language does.
I think color words in languages are really interesting.
Certainly. Words for other common concepts operate the same way, framing the way we think and influencing the way we slice up reality. But with colors the differences are far easier to study. What cannot be seen with a glance we can quantify with a digital camera.
I think it’s reasonably likely that the general population of English speakers will consider cyan its own thing after a while, in large part for the reason you mention.
I think it’s reasonably likely that the general population of English speakers will consider cyan its own thing after a while, in large part for the reason you mention.
Probably, getting included in the 16 colour palette computers used at times and being the name for one of the subtractive primary colours brings it up a bit in popularity.
The difference is that, in English, “cyan”, like your other listed examples except the ones that I think are actually green or purple, is a kind of blue (like sepia is a kind of brown, canary is a kind of yellow, etc.), while “pink” is not a kind of red. In Russian, golubuy is not a kind of siniy, and vice versa.
I think color words in languages are really interesting. Some languages have only three very basic ones that aren’t kinds of anything else, and these tend to be translated as “black”, “white”, and “red”—dark, light, and bright colors. (They translate the bright color as “red” because if you have lots of objects in the room and ask someone who speaks this language to point to the best example of that color, they’ll pick something bright red.) These three words are privileged in English too: they’re the only ones we modify with -en to indicate that something is becoming more that color (redden, blacken, whiten—never bluen or greenen).
“Cyan” is one of the least “blue” on the list and I almost omitted it. These days I’d even tend to consider some) of those others “shades of cyan”. Too much study of web design tends to corrupt perception the same way native language does.
Certainly. Words for other common concepts operate the same way, framing the way we think and influencing the way we slice up reality. But with colors the differences are far easier to study. What cannot be seen with a glance we can quantify with a digital camera.
I think it’s reasonably likely that the general population of English speakers will consider cyan its own thing after a while, in large part for the reason you mention.
Probably, getting included in the 16 colour palette computers used at times and being the name for one of the subtractive primary colours brings it up a bit in popularity.